Product Description

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Since The Circle Maker's release in 2011, inspiring stories of God's answers to prayer have poured in to Mark Batterson's inbox. In Draw the Circle he shares 40 of those faith-building stories through devotional readings that will encourage you to keep praying like never before.The 40-day prayer plan outlined in Draw the Circle will give you the insight and motivation you need to develop a deeper, more passionate prayer life. And as you take on the prayer challenge Batterson lays out, you'll be sowing seeds that will bear a lifetime of faith as you watch God work in your life and in the world.

Publisher's Description

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Do you pray as often and as boldly as you want to? There is a way to experience a deeper, more passionate, persistent, and intimate prayer life.

Drawing from forty days of true stories, Mark Batterson applies the principles of his New York Times bestselling book The Circle Maker to teach us a new way to pray. As thousands of readers quickly became many tens of thousands, true stories of miraculous and inspiring answers to prayer began to pour in, and as those stories were shared, others were bolstered in their faith to pray with even more boldness.

In Draw the Circle, through forty true, faith-building stories of Gods answers to prayer, daily scriptures and prayer prompts, Batterson inspires you to pray and keep praying like never before. Begin a lifetime of watching God work. Believe in the God who can do all things. Experience the power of bold prayer and even bolder faith in Draw the Circle.

Author Bio

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Mark Batterson serves as the lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington, D.C. Recognized as "one of America's 25 most innovative churches," NCC is one church with seven locations. Mark's blog (www.markbatterson.com) and webcast (www.theaterchurch.com) also reach a virtual congregation around the world. Mark is the author of several bestselling books, including New York Times bestsellers The Circle Maker and In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. He and his wife, Lora, live on Capitol Hill with their three children. You can follow Mark on Twitter: @markbatterson

I have mixed thoughts about this book: some of the stories were compelling. But am I praying more, and am I praying more earnestly as a result of reading this book? I'm not sure. There is a fine line between praying with great faith and praying presumptuously. The author does mention the dilemma of mistaking God's will for our own, but he doesn't really suggest how to discern between the two. I am going through this book with a small group, and though we have had good conversations, I'm not sure how productive our time has been.

God has so gifted Mark in writing, not only this book, but in his other writings also. Mark leads the reader not into the power of positive thinking, but into taking God at His Word, believing it and living in the power we have been given. It is challlenging me to believe more and live more positively because as Christians we can and should!!!

I have been reading this book for several weeks now as my devotional reading. A while back that I read Mark Batterson's book, The Circle Maker, but at the same time, I also started his 40 day prayer challenge companion book called Draw the Circle. I sheepishly confess that it took me longer than 40 days to get through it because with moving and a vacation, I didn't read every single day. But my delays were purely self-inflicted and were no reflection on his quality of writing at all! :)

Mark published this book in 2012 after he wrote The Circle Maker, and while you will find some content transferred from the main book to the companion guide, you'll also find a lot of brand new content, some of which was inspired by letters and emails he received in response to the main book. He shared stories people told him after they had begun to pray circles in their own lives, and he added new stories from his journey along the way.

This book is, in format, very much created for daily reading with short chapters and a Bible verse to begin each day's reading. I found within it the same style of underline-worthy phrases and challenges that I have always found in Mark's writing, and it was a good daily guide in learning to pray genuinely and with passion and risk.

I also appreciate that Mark doesn't claim to be a prayer expert or to always pray well. He shares of his own shortcomings and desire/hunger to learn more on the subject, but he also shares incredible stories of moments when God did big things because of prayer.

So if you like a daily reading guide better than a standard book, this would be a great choice for you. Because it's 40 days in length, it would be great for Lent or for any season when you want to mark out a prescribed number of days to pray over something!